Auto shop business practices

As vehicles age s@#t happens. Kind of sounds like they are parts hurlers, but hard to really tell. I am sure I am not the only one who went about a simple task that turned into a major nightmare. Hell, I think there is a thread here where someone talks about converting there car over to big bolt pattern and it turned into a full on restore. What your friend is going thru is why I do as much as I possibly can for myself. My treadmill needed a new belt. Place I bought it from wanted $300 + tax to put a new belt on it. Found the belt on line for $120.....a couple of hours of my time and saved myself $200. A lot of this stuff is not as tuff as it looks. Just go slowly, label/bag/photo what you take off and you would be surprised at what you can do your self.